Michelle Visage is — without a hint of exaggeration — a goddess of sorts for gay boys and drag queens.

She dishes tough love from the judges table on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” the wildly popular TV competition that assembles a motley crew of queens vying for fame, fortune and a (literal) crown. Visage has been a fixture alongside Mama Ru since Season 3 — and beyond. The pair hosted VH1’s “The RuPaul Show” from 1996-1998 and currently kikis on the biweekly “What’s the Tee?” podcast.

This month, however, Visage returns to her first love — theater. She joins Season 6 winner Bianca Del Rio and Courtney Act in “The Rocky Horror Show” at the Woodlawn Theatre in San Antonio. Visage plays Riff Raff, and Del Rio is Magenta. Act replaces Adore Delano, who opted out of the role of Dr. Frank-N-Furter due to a medical emergency. (Visage starred alongside “Drag Race” favorites Alaska and Willam Belli in a 2013 production.)

Visage attended an arts high school in South Plainfield, NJ and earned a degree from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, as part of dance/pop trio Seduction, she scored hits with “Two To Make It Right,” “Heartbeat” and “Could This Be Love.” She lent vocals to “It’s Gonna Be a Lovely Day,” a dance hit by S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M. featured on “The Bodyguard” soundtrack. And she was a popular radio DJ at major stations across the country.

Between rehearsals for what she says will be an “unbelievable” show, Visage talked to me about loving theater, leaving music behind, Texas memories and, of course, “Drag Race.”

How familiar were you with “Rocky Horror” before joining the show?
I was familiar with the (1975) movie, not the musical. When I did it last year, I actually — dare I say — liked the musical better than the movie. I mean, I love Tim Curry. He became an obsession of mine after seeing it. I saw it for the time when I was in Brownies. I was a little girl, and I had no idea what I was going to. I remember leaving there going, ‘I am so confused. I have no idea what I just saw.’ I must have been like eight years old. Completely inappropriate.

When did you fall in love with theater?
My parents were big theatergoers and loved it. I remember being very young, maybe six or seven, and learning the entire soundtrack to ‘West Side Story.’ I would sing it from the overture to the ending. The other kids would dress up like slutty cats for Halloween. I remember them all literally saying, ‘Let’s dress up like cats’ at 13 or whatever when they’re trying to get the attention of boys. I came out dressed like Miss Hannigan. I put on this old lady dress with a mink stole. They were like, ‘What’s Annie?’

You have to be asked all the time if you’ll ever again record original music?
No. Nope. No way. No how. I talk to Ru about this all the time. Here’s my theory: Seduction was a platinum-selling group. S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M., the song (‘It’s Gonna Be A Lovely Day’) did really well, and it’s from the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time, ‘The Bodyguard.’ I went out on a high note. And it’s really depressing to me –- and this could be my own issue, which it probably is, because I’m crazy -– over the years when people have submitted songs for me to sing, I’m like, ‘This is really bad.’ I want to be motivated to sing it. It would really suck if I came back and sang a (expletive) song, and it flopped.

What are your memories of touring Texas as a pop singer?
Seduction was huge in Texas. Huge! We were here all the time. We loved Houston. And what we loved most about Houston was the Goodwill stores. We got so excited about going shopping. We loved the Galleria. That was our favorite place on Earth. I had a really fun affair with a DJ from Houston, too. I loved coming to Houston because I knew I was gonna get laid. He’s like this married Christian man now, which freaks me out a little bit.

A lot of people, including me, grew up alongside these phases of your career.
It’s been a trip. I feel like I’m only halfway up the mountain. I’ve got the book coming out in fall of 2015. It’s called ‘Even Divas Need Dayjobs.’ I like to say it’s part memoir, part self-help, but all fabulous. They’re rules on how to live your life – when bad (expletive) gets thrown at you, how to handle it and how to not make the mistakes that I made. The point is you can’t let anything get you down. Mo matter what happens in life, there’s always a way to rebound. Trust me, there’s been a lot of stuff thrown at this face.

Who or what has been an inspiration for you?
I’ve never been able to do anything else. I told my mother when I was very young that I wanted to be a veterinarian because my love for animals is insane. I think she knew that I wasn’t a great student. She said, ‘You know, you’re gonna have to put dogs down. You’re gonna have to kill dogs.’ I was like, ‘OK, we’ll I’m just gonna be actress.’ I was lucky enough to have been adopted into a really incredible family that supported me at 10 years old going, ‘I wanna be an actress’ and continuing that through high school and paying for theater classes and voice lessons and taking me to New York City. They just allowed me to be who I was.

Let’s talk “Drag Race.” What can you tell us about the upcoming season?
What I can say is that I think there are a lot of changes. I think things are very different this season, which is good in my book. I think people are going to be excited about the way things are done this season. Really, really exciting stuff coming up. I’m not saying anything else except for that.

The inevitable single or album seems to be a post-“Drag Race” badge of honor. Who do you think has done it right?
Ru’s always known how to do it, and he’s so forward thinking. I love all of Ru’s music because it sounds like Cher. I love Adore (Delano)’s album. I thought Sharon (Needles’) album was really good. I love Alaska’s song ‘Ru Girl,’ and I like ‘Your Makeup Looks Terrible,’ too. There’s something for everybody. While it may not be my cup of tea, there are plenty of people out there that froth at the mouth for it. Just like I listen to Broadway all the time. Those queens hate to even be in the dressing room with me because I drive them crazy with it.

Do you feel like some of the queens are intimated by you glaring at them from the judges table?
Yes they’re intimidated! They should be! That is my job, and I take it really seriously. And I take the art of drag really seriously. I amplify it to scare these b*****. But they should be intimidated, because I’m about to rip every single thing apart that they’re doing, whether it’s good or bad.

Your job really seems to be to almost force a lot of these girls outside their drag boxes.
I’ve had many incarnations, and I’ve had many people say, ‘Hey, let’s do something different. Let’s try this hair color. Let’s try this style of clothing.’ Those are the times in life that I’ve made the biggest strides. These kids, especially the younger ones, they don’t wanna hear it. They know everything. That’s why they got on the show. Well, children, that couldn’t be further from the truth. Meryl Streep still takes acting classes. The day you stop learning is the day you should just retire. I’m not getting anything out of just sitting there to be a b*****. The reason I do it is because I see something there that you’re not seeing. I pushed Sharon (Needles, Season 4 winner) to give me something glamorous and not spooky. I pushed Jinkx (Monsoon, Season 5 winner) 25 times. I got so much hell for that, and when she did, it worked. It just connected, and that b***** won.

What’s the most Texas thing you’ve done during your time here?
I haven’t done really Texas stuff! I don’t eat meat. So I can’t do barbecue. Although I’ve been finding really incredible vegan restaurants, so I’ve been very happy. I haven’t bought cowboy boots. The last thing I wanna see is my legs in cowboy boots.

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